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RW Patrik Laine - Tappara, Liiga (2016 Draft) III

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Pavel Buchnevich said:
To clarify, I'm not saying he will be, but if Laine is as good as some people think he could be, its not a stretch to think he could at least be at the same level. Stats are different now than years past so he probably won't get to the level of those players in stats, but in level of play compared to his peers he might.
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McDavid is one draft year ahead of him, I'd consider that the same "era" and peer group. If Laine had the potential to be as good as McDavid in terms of level of play, he's 1st overall without question.

Laine's solidly the 2nd best prospect in the draft, which makes him part of the elite of the elite in his age group. That being said, I don't think he has the natural processing ability or skating of a McDavid, the innate talent and physical gifts of a Lemieux, the pure scoring ability and speed of a Selanne, or the overwhelming power of an Ovechkin.

He's still incomplete, which makes his upside very intriguing, but I don't think he'll hit 100 points even in the best case scenario. Which all of the mentioned have done or are likely to do moving forward. And given that Laine is going to be purely an offensive player with grit, his offensive exploits will be the large majority of how his play will be judged. He isn't going to be an elite defensive player, which is what it will take to even consider placing him within the same realm of 2 1st ballot Hall of Famers and the best young forward in a decade, let alone one of the most dominant centers in the history of the game.
 
Kyle93 said:
Right now if all 3 suddenly jumped into the NHL tomorrow I would rate them as:
Nylander
Laine
Marner

Willy is just much further along in his development than the others, and although Marner is very skilled he needs to gain weight. Both are 5'11 though so it's not like they are short. Laine is just a beast :laugh:

Long-term though Laine definitely has the highest upside IMO.
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I was thinking how has this season changed Leafs fans minds on Laine, and the offseason/pre season comparisons to Leafs some prospects.

(Going by the comment that said wouldn't like to see Bab get Laine as he would keep Laine for years in the AHL followed by Bab has never had a prospect like him in his hands.)

Laine would definitely fill a need for Leafs, bring size with elite talent/shot.
 
BB88 said:
How do Leafs fans right now compare him with Nylander/Marner?
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He would easily be the more intriguing of the three, given his size and skill set.

For me, it would go...

Patrik Laine
Mitch Marner
William Nylander
 
Stavros said:
He would be consensus #1 if he was good ol' canadian boy.
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No he wouldn't and this argument is beyond dumb. Kovy went over Spezza, that should prove there is no strong nationality issues unless their are transfer agreement/buyout issues. Since Sundin was drafted in 89, there have been 4 Americans taken 1st (Kane,Berrard, Johnson, Dipierto), 3 Russians (Kovy, Ovi, Yakupov), and 2 Czechs (Hamrlik, Stefan). I wouldn't say that is that out of whack, Scandinavians are under represented, but outside have Barkov and Hedman there is no one who really pushed for the top spot. The Sedin's are unique, because Daniel basically went 1, but Burke traded "down" to 2, to draft them together. GM's have proven time and time again there is very little euro-phobia.
 
BB88 said:
I was thinking how has this season changed Leafs fans minds on Laine, and the offseason/pre season comparisons to Leafs some prospects.

(Going by the comment that said wouldn't like to see Bab get Laine as he would keep Laine for years in the AHL followed by Bab has never had a prospect like him in his hands.)

Laine would definitely fill a need for Leafs, bring size with elite talent/shot.
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Laine is significantly closer to being NHL ready than either Nylander or Marner were at the same age, Marner needs to add size and Nylander needed to refine his game for a more demanding position while adding some size. Laine and to a lesser extent Puljujärvi do not have the size questions, have experience playing in a top league, and can break in at a position with less responsibility. Laine needs to improve his jump and defensive awarness, but those can be worked on at the pro-level. I don't see Laine in the AHL under Babs unless he really struggles at camp, and even then I think he's up by the ASG.
 
93LEAFS said:
No he wouldn't and this argument is beyond dumb. Kovy went over Spezza, that should prove there is no strong nationality issues unless their are transfer agreement/buyout issues. Since Sundin was drafted in 89, there have been 4 Americans taken 1st (Kane,Berrard, Johnson, Dipierto), 3 Russians (Kovy, Ovi, Yakupov), and 2 Czechs (Hamrlik, Stefan). I wouldn't say that is that out of whack, Scandinavians are under represented, but outside have Barkov and Hedman there is no one who really pushed for the top spot. The Sedin's are unique, because Daniel basically went 1, but Burke traded "down" to 2, to draft them together. GM's have proven time and time again there is very little euro-phobia.
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Yes, euro player will be taken first if he is CLEARLY better than north american. If they are on par or even a slightly better we know what happens. Just look at the past drafts, 2014 Draisaitl, Ehlers and Nylander were taken too late, Pastrnak should have been in top10 too. 2013 Ristolainen and Nicuschin too low, Lindholm too high though. 2012 Lindholm too low Maatta and Forsberg way too low. I can see a trend there.
 
Stavros said:
Yes, euro player will be taken first if he is CLEARLY better than north american. If they are on par or even a slightly better we know what happens. Just look at the past drafts, 2014 Draisaitl, Ehlers and Nylander were taken too late, Pastrnak should have been in top10 too. 2013 Ristolainen and Nicuschin too low, Lindholm too high though. 2012 Lindholm too low Maatta and Forsberg way too low. I can see a trend there.
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Yakupov too high, Niederiter too high, Granlund too high, Faska too high and Zibanejad too high. It goes both ways. Pastrnak fell due to injury concerns and Nicushkin didn't go to low (Domi passes him). And Draisaitl was taken 3rd, which is probably go in a re-draft, Nylander and Ehlers probably stay close to the same, maybe move up a spot. Barkov was 4th according to most lists and went ahead of two very hyped NA's. Its far from clear cut, good Canadians and Americans slip at the draft too.

There is no bias except towards Russians which is due to factors out of teams control (lack of a transfer agreement, KHL isn't co-operative with NA scouts etc). Laine is not better than Matthews, and if there is any bias it is more positional based.
 
93LEAFS said:
Yakupov too high, Niederiter too high, Granlund too high, Faska too high and Zibanejad too high. It goes both ways. Pastrnak fell due to injury concerns and Nicushkin didn't go to low (Domi passes him). And Draisaitl was taken 3rd, which is probably go in a re-draft, Nylander and Ehlers probably stay close to the same, maybe move up a spot. Barkov was 4th according to most lists and went ahead of two very hyped NA's. Its far from clear cut, good Canadians and Americans slip at the draft too.

There is no bias except towards Russians which is due to factors out of teams control (lack of a transfer agreement, KHL isn't co-operative with NA scouts etc). Laine is not better than Matthews, and if there is any bias it is more positional based.
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Well said. Positional bias exists generally for centers, and with good reason given the defensive responsibilities the demand for top ones are obviously great...
 
Laine with a one-timer to keep his goal-assist ratio at 50/50.

EDIT: What is it, 16 points in 16 games since the WJC?
 
The kid should have had like maybe 4 or 5 points today if his line mates would have found a way to finish. Just unreal game again today. Creating chances every time when being on the play. The best player on the ice.
 
kelsier said:
The kid should have had like maybe 4 or 5 points today if his line mates would have found a way to finish. Just unreal game again today. Creating chances every time when being on the play. The best player on the ice.
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Well, as far as I was concerned, Laine didn't standout tonight like he has usually stood out. Sure, the whole Laine-Ilomäki-Peltola lineup didn't show much and guess you could say he was easily the best player from that line.

From what I've seen in the last games since his return from the EHT games, Laine has game by game looked more of a professional player than a rookie. I don't know if it's due to Kari Jalonen, Tapola or Laine himself but he has started to backcheck more aggressively (hence the recent penalties :laugh:), he spends more time battling of the puck than previously and all in all, doesn't try to challenge as much as he did earlier but rather tries to look for a mature play.

For example, in his assist tonight, he drove to the net and eventually his screen helped Plastino to score.


In the end, really mature player for a 17 years old and seems to learn something new every game.
 
kelsier said:
The kid should have had like maybe 4 or 5 points today if his line mates would have found a way to finish. Just unreal game again today. Creating chances every time when being on the play. The best player on the ice.
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He showed some nice physicality, soft hand and that shot of course. He also made a good screen in that goal where he got an assist too. He is fun to watch and you can just sense that he is capable of doing great things, its like an aura. He did, however made some stupid mistakes and bad decisions, seemed a bit lost at times. He is talented but you can see that he is only 17, he has to improve his decision making. Didn't look that unreal for me.
 
One thing thats hurting his 5v5 game is his line. Laine and Ilomäki are way too similar as players. Both like to the puck and Ilomäki is shoot-to-first guy and his off-puck movement is horrible. So Laine is not getting involved as much as wanted.

I believe he and the team would benefit alot if they move Laine to 1st line or change Järvinen to 2nd line C and Ilomäki to 3rd.

Most likely Tapola is seeing the same thing and well see either one of these changes before playoffs.

Possible 1st line
Laine(sniper) - Lajunen (grinder) - Kuusela (playmaker)

Possible 2nd line
Laine(sniper) - Järvinen (playmaker) - Peltola(grinder)

Current 2nd line
Laine(sniper) - Ilomäki (sniper) - Peltola (grinder)

Neither Laine or Ilomäki benefit playing with each other. They both even play 'Ovechkin-role' in pp. Laine in 1st unit and Ilomäki 2nd.
 
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Started watching around mid 2nd period, to me he seemed more mature than sometimes before. Created good chances, some really nice stickhandling. Actually resembled Datsyuk a bit on that one play near the board where he stickhandled left and right, didn't come out with the puck like Datsyuk though but was able to keep puck in his team's possession.
 
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